Songfarla
Songfarla - this hidden gnome city is right on the border of Thay. When it held its short term war against Narfell, did it recover any lore? Has it infiltrated the school of illusion in Thay? This hidden kingdom of gnomes lies nestled just under the eastern slopes of the Sunrise Mountains off a tributary of the River Murghôl. Settled almost 5,000 years ago by rock gnomes fleeing Netherese enslavement, Songfarla was founded when an influx of new refugees nearly quintupled the existing settlement’s population. Since that time the gnome population slowly dwindled, until –496 dr, when Songfarla’s population swelled with the unexpected arrival of four deep gnome clans—the Covarrkar, the Fungusfoot, the Glasszhorm, and the Longstepper clans. The Hidden Kingdom presently numbers some 12,000 gnomes, carefully secreted in a number of communities in the mountains east of Thay. Some half of them live in the city that names the kingdom. Songfarla (small city): Conventional; AL LG; 15,000 gp limit; Assets 7,877,250 gp; Population 5,807; Isolated (58% rock gnome, 42% deep gnome). Authority Figure: Laughing Mime (NG male rock gnome illusionist 13/cleric 8 of Garl Glittergold), Prime Jeweler of Songfarla. Important Characters: Lyssa Polishedstone (LG female rock gnome cleric 14 of Garl Glittergold), the Star Ruby (high priestess of Garl Glittergold; Esstor Wykurrik (LG male deep gnome fighter 11), the First Sentinel and leader of the Vigilant Sentinels; Filannil (CG female gloaming sorcerer 7), de facto head of the local gloaming ghetto (see Underdark for details on gloaming). At the headwaters of the northwestemmost tributary of the River Murghol, on the eastern slopes of the Sunrise Mountains, midway between the Lake of Mists and the ruins of Delhumide, lies the Hidden Kingdom of Songfarla. Although it is commonly known throughout the region that a few isolated communities of rock gnomes survive in the shadow of Thay, learning of the existence of an entire kingdom of the Forgotten Folk so close to the borders of the land of the Red Wizards would shock even the Zulkir of Divination. The Hidden Kingdom is largely self-sufficient, although it does trade with its neighbors in ways designed to continue its anonymity and preserve its sanctity and security. The inhabitants of Songfarla have a few representatives in the city of Almorel who trade the Hidden Kingdom's wares with traders traversing the Golden Way, in the city of Murghyr who trade with merchants on the River Rauthenflow, and in the city of Duirtanal who trade with merchants embarking on the Silk Road. Gnome goods are brought into all three cities in small quantities in the wagons of gnome merchants pretending to be itinerant peddlers and are then sold by a handful of gnome merchant families who have dwelt in each city for centuries. The secret of Songfarla's existence has thus been kept secret, even from the fanciful tavern-tales of bards that inspire adventurers. At the heart of Songfarla is the Gilded Nugget, so named for the giant chunk of gilded granite or iron pyrite (tales vary) with which the lands of the Hidden Kingdom were purchased centuries ago. This vast cavern at the heart of a great vein of gold studded with gems (an unexplained natural phenomenon) and a web of innumerable illusion-cloaked passages connecting the burrows of the Hidden Kingdom, this great amphitheater serves as a center of worship, government, commerce, and the arts for the entire community. Under the able leadership of an aged rock gnome known only as the Laughing Mime, the clergy of the Joker knit this disparate kingdom together in common purpose and harmony. Although it is hardly the preeminent temple of the leader of the gnome pantheon, the Temple of Wisdom, called the Shrine of the Short by some humans, is one of the few gnome temples that regularly admits human supplicants, having even won a few converts among them, and it is thus the most widely known temple of Garl outside the insular communities of the Forgotten Folk. The Temple of Wisdom, run by the quiet, observant Gellana Mirrorshade, is located in the Friendly Arm, a waystop for caravans passing along the Coast Way between Beregost and Baldur's Gate. Gellana and her husband, Bentley Mirrorshade, run an inn also called the Friendly Arm as a safe, secure place for travelers. Located within the secure walls of the holdfast, the Temple of Wisdom is a low building whose interior walls are studded with gems and gold nuggets and which is guarded by many illusions. Category:Locations in East Faerûn Category:Nation states Category:Gnome locations Category:Gnome settlements